MacTech Blog

Feb 15

63% of smartphone users have one or more financial apps

Sixty-three percent of U.S. adults who use a smartphone have at least one financial app, according to a new Bankrate.com report. The average smartphone user has 2.5 financial apps. Among millennials (18-37 year-olds), the average is 3.6. It drops to 2.3 for Gen X (ages 38-53) and 1.4 for Baby Boomers (ages 54-72).

The most common financial apps are full-service banking apps; 55% of U.S. adults who have a smartphone have at least one full-service banking app, including 23% who have at least two.

Peer-to-peer payments apps (such as Venmo, PayPal and Square Cash) are the second most common. 41% of smartphone users have at least one of these and 15% have more than one.

Standalone budgeting and investing apps are less common; they can be found on just 18% and 17% of smartphones, respectively. Mint, Clarity Money and Wally are among the best-known budgeting apps. Stash, Acorns and Betterment are popular for investing.

The way consumers globally pay is changing, according to Market News Update (www.marketnewsupdate.com). As shopping habits evolve, e-commerce and m-commerce methods such as in-app and one-click ordering are becoming increasingly popular.

In addition, the exponential growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) is introducing a wealth of new payment use-applications, says Market News Update. The promise of frictionless, secure transactions in real time from any payment device (be it a kiosk, smartphone, computer or payment terminal) is one that gives the consumer complete control over their purchasing experience, adds the research group.

Electronic wallets and mobile ecommerce are continually gaining popularity due to rise of easy to use mobile apps while the market is driven by tech firms introducing new and secure devices and applications and by banks developing their own apps and providing on...

A new research report from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) forecasts that specialized fitness wearables integrated into clothing and ear-based “hearables” will grow from an expected 4.5 million shipped in 2018 to nearly 30 million in 2022, an increase of more than 550%. By contrast, conventional activity tracker shipments will only grow by 20% in that time, according to the research group.

The new research found that as growth in basic trackers has slowed, session specific wearables, for example those monitoring gym or training sessions, have multiplied. Devices from companies like Under Armour, Sensoria, Gymwatch, Atlas and Jabra provide more granular metrics, without the additional messaging and call-handling functions of more general wearables.

Juniper says that the key battleground for fitness wearables is now data, which will ultimately become device-agnostic, thanks to...

New data from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that banking RPA (robotic process automation) software and services revenue will reach close to $900 million by 2022. The research group expects the market value, estimated at $214 million in 2018, to expand over four times by 2022.

RPA was traditionally limited to replicating simple or repetitive tasks that require high accuracy, such as data entry. The market currently represents a ‘perfect storm’ created by the convergence of chatbots, AI-driven RPA software and banks’ digital transformation strategies. Juniper found that this has created renewed interest in RPA for financial services, driving market spending.

The research found that where AI is combined with automation tools, the potential for RPA in the banking industry is far-reaching. Use cases include compliance, digital on-boarding, and personalized cross- or upsell...

The worldwide cloud infrastructure services market grew 46% year on year in the fourth quarter (Q4) 2017 to reach $16 billion. This brought 2017’s full-year growth to 45%, according to Canalys (www.canalys.com).

Amazon Web Services (AWS) remained the leading vendor for the quarter, accounting for 32% of the total worldwide market, notes the research group. Microsoft, Google and IBM also held their positions among the largest global cloud service providers, representing 14%, 8% and 4% of the market respectively.

The top four’s dominance grew, driven by their robust performances during the quarter. Microsoft (up 98%) grew the most, while Google (up 85%), AWS (up 45%) and IBM (up 9%) maintained momentum. Canalys expects the cloud market to keep growing in 2018, but there will be challenges ahead.

“2018 will be a disruptive year for the cloud infrastructure services market, which will affect the leading...

A worldwide survey* of 196 organizations by Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com) showed that 91% of organizations have not yet reached a "transformational" level of maturity in data and analytics, despite this area being a number one investment priority for CIOs in recent years.

"Most organizations should be doing better with data and analytics, given the potential benefits," said Nick Heudecker, research vice president at Gartner. "Organizations at transformational levels of maturity enjoy increased agility, better integration with partners and suppliers, and easier use of advanced predictive and prescriptive forms of analytics. This all translates to competitive advantage and differentiation.”

The global survey asked respondents to rate their organizations according to Gartner's five levels of maturity for data and analytics. It found that 60% of respondents worldwide rated themselves in the lowest three levels...

The worldwide cloud infrastructure services market grew 46% year on year in the fourth quarter (Q4) 2017 to reach $16 billion.

According to Canalys (www.canalys.com), this brought 2017’s full-year growth to 45%. Amazon Web Services (AWS) remained the leading vendor for the quarter, accounting for 32% of the total worldwide market. Microsoft, Google and IBM also held their positions among the largest global cloud service providers, representing 14%, 8% and 4% of the market respectively.

The top four’s dominance grew, driven by their robust performances during the quarter. Microsoft (up 98%) grew the most, while Google (up 85%), AWS (up 45%) and IBM (up 9%) maintained momentum. Canalys expects the cloud market to keep growing in 2018, but there will be challenges ahead.

“2018 will be a disruptive year for the cloud infrastructure services market, which will affect the leading vendors’ costs,” said...

Worldwide spending on information and communications technology (ICT) will be nearly $4.0 trillion in 2018, according to new data from IDC (www.idc.com).

The explosive growth of smartphones in recent years means that consumer spending will account for the largest proportion of that total, but growth will be driven by enterprise spending on cloud, software and infrastructure related to third platform solutions, according to the research group.

IDC says the consumer market will account for more than $1.5 trillion in ICT spending in 2018 and will deliver more than one third of all worldwide spending throughout the forecast. Consumer spending will also experience the slowest growth over the forecast period with a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 1.2%. Roughly 80% of consumer spending will go to devices and mobile telecom services.

Asigra (www.asigra.com), a cloud backup, recovery and restore software provider, has announced that new forecasts from a trio of market research firms -- Stratistics MRC, CMI, and MarketResearch -- predict continued category adoption and growth in the cloud backup space.

Stratistics MRC recently reported that the global cloud backup market could balloon as high as $5.5 billion by 2023 with a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 24.2 percent, up from $1.2 billion in 2016. The primary drivers of growth for this category included large amounts of generated data, increasing adoption of SaaS, lower costs, and increased capabilities/efficiencies.

A separate report from CMI suggests that the global cloud backup market is on track to have reached $1.3 billion by the end of 2017—with a projected CAGR of over 22 percent between 2017 and 2025—to potentially surpass US$ 6.4 billion by 2025. CMI reported...

Jonathan Berent, L.C.S.W., author of "Beyond Shyness" (Simon & Schuster) and "Work Makes Me Nervous" (Wiley), whose work is showcased on socialanxiety.com, has identified technology addiction as the gateway to an alternate reality for individuals of all ages afflicted with social anxiety and avoidant personality.

Berent explains: "The fact that texting has replaced talking as the most common form of communication characterizes a societal shutdown of the neural pathways required for verbal communication specifically, and social skills in general. Society's massive and rapidly developing technology dependence is enabling a dramatic increase in selective mutism, which is a variation of obsessive compulsive disorder and a speaking phobia. Using technology to communicate rather than talking has become a way of life for many.”

Current statistics put selective mutism as occurring in 7 out of 1000 children.

A new study from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that global retailer spending on AI (artificial intelligence) will reach $7.3 billion per annum by 2022, up from an estimated $2 billion in 2018, as retailers target new avenues to increase personalization of the customer experience.

The research group found that retailers will heavily invest in AI tools that allow them to differentiate and improve the services they offer customers. These range from automated marketing platforms that generate tailored, timely offers, to chatbots that provide instant customer service.

Juniper’s latest research found that spending will be strongest in customer service and sentiment analytics, where AI can be applied to understand customer reaction to the products purchased and the service received. This will prove to be a key tool for retailers seeking to improve their customer experience...

New data from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) finds that advertising spend on FVOD (Free Video on Demand) content, such as media on YouTube and Facebook, will surge over the next 5 years, reaching $37 billion by 2022. This is up from an estimated $16 billion in 2017. In addition, unique users of such content will reach just under 4.5 billion globally by 2022, as the appetite for free video media continues its expanse, adds the research group.

Juniper found that leading FVOD provider YouTube, which sees over one billion hours watched per day, will face increasing competition from social media platforms. It observed that the delivery of live video content via social media channels will be one of the growth areas for 2018, as users increase the volume of live broadcast content posted to these platforms. Such examples include Instagram, which has over 800 million monthly active users, and...

Android devices have recently been under fire for the lack of security provided to their users. For example, it was revealed that the Lebanese Security Agency has been implanting fake apps into Android users’ phones. That allowed the agency to follow people in many countries – journalists, activists, military members and others.

In addition, it was found that three quarters of all Android devices were running on security patches at least two months old, posing risks to the users.

Users can take certain steps to take Android device security into their own hands. Here are four tips from NordVPN (www.nordvpn.com) on how to keep your Android phone safe:

1. Make sure not to download fake apps – do not click on phishing messages. Some original apps from Google Play may have trackers that sell users’ data to advertisers. However, even more dangerous are fake apps – like those that are...

Well, it has happened before...back in '83. See, from a feature point of view, the iPhone 8 look doomed beside the X. But price points do come into play in such matters. Apple is curtailing the production of the X, and the Spy assumes it will be discontinued once the X year is done.

As the physician said to the 12-year old Spy when he came into his office looking like scarlet fever: "Allergic to the phenobarb, eh? Well, back to the old drawing board. Somehow anniversary special products just don't do well. Are they too hastily conceived?

Wrong about grammar

A local radio ad grats on the Spy every time (often!) he hears it. It's a plug to take out a second mortgage on one's home equity for immediate spending wants (high interest contract no doubt, and very high risk behaviour) that ends with "our criteria is less strict". Has no one ever been told about singular and plural noun-verb agreements? And don'...

More than half of business teams of all sizes are seeing productivity gains of over 40%, according to the findings of a new report from FileMaker, Inc. (www.filemaker.com). The company's third annual State of the Custom App Report, released today, examines how businesses are harnessing digital transformation and reducing inefficiencies with custom apps.

The global report sheds light on the ways custom apps are driving better, stronger end-results while improving the process of work. The report found that custom apps are being used in a wide variety of ways to help teams accomplish their business goals by streamlining workloads.

These tools don't require prior coding experience and provide users with the flexibility and customizability that pre-packaged software typically lacks. Other

° Custom apps are quick to build – 72%of businesses had their apps up and running in under six months.

New data from Alteryx (www.alteryx.com) says data professionals are wasting half of their time each week finding, protecting, or preparing data —costing organizations significant amounts of money. The study is based on a survey of 400-plus individuals performing data functions across North America and Europe.

Despite massive growth in data analytics demand globally, this new study shows that there is still much work to be done for organizations to get the most of their data assets and infrastructures, particularly when it comes to data discovery and cataloging, according to the analytics platform. Data professionals are spending more time governing, searching and preparing data than they are on extracting business value. Among the findings:

° Data professionals spend 60% of their time getting to insight, but just 27% of that time is spent on actual analysis. Instead, 37% of that “getting to insight” time is...

By 2027, “tens of billions” of smart objects will be Internet-enabled with IP addresses, according to a new report from Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com).

Expenditures on buying and installing actual Internet of Things (IoT_ networks is much more modest, contrary to heroic forecasts made by most analysts and manufacturers in the past, adds the research group. Node forecasts have now been reduced in the light of what has happened, though systems figures have been increased.

Research and Markets says it adds up to $20 billion in actual networks, including nodes in 10 years from now and rapid progress after that. See the number and dollar breakdown by application.

Worldwide shipments of devices — PCs, tablets and mobile phones — totaled 2.28 billion units in 2017, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com).Shipments are on course to reach 2.32 billion units in 2018, an increase of 2.1%.

The research group says two markets will drive overall growth in device shipments in 2018. First is the mobile phone market, led by the high-end smartphone segment. Second is the premium ultramobile market, where thin and light Apple and Microsoft Windows 10 devices are stimulating higher demand.
"Consumers have many technologies to choose from, which poses two main challenges for vendors. The first is to compete for wallet share, given how many devices consumers own. The second is to deliver value and maintain relevance — to offer the right device to the right audience," said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner. "We will see more buyers focusing on value, rather than just...

Allied Market Research (www.alliedmarketresearch.com) has published a report on the global cyber security market for the forecast period of 2016 - 2022. A compound annual growth of 15.5% is registered in the forecast period, notes the research group. The market will accrue a whopping $198 billion by 2022.

Government and agencies have a long way to go before settling at a cyber security technology that can protect them from growing cyber threats, according to Allied Market Research. It would not come as a surprise if the world faces another wave of cyber violence, adds the research group.

This is due to the lack of budget, fewer facilities for R&D, and scarcity of workforce that is keeping us behind. Healthcare centers have sensitive patient information, military and aerospace sectors cannot afford to compromise their data to unknown eyes, and the government holds dear various...

Organizations are embracing self-service analytics and business intelligence (BI) to bring these capabilities to business users of all levels. This trend is so pronounced that Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com) predicts that by 2019, the analytics output of business users with self-service capabilities will surpass that of professional data scientists.

"The trend of digitalization is driving demand for analytics across all areas of modern business and government," said Carlie J. Idoine, research director at Gartner. "Rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, Internet of Things and SaaS (cloud) analytics and BI platforms are making it easier and more cost-effective than ever before for nonspecialists to perform effective analysis and better inform their decision making.”

Gartner's recent survey of more than 3,000 CIOs shows that CIOs ranked analytics and BI as the top differentiating technology for their...

In its current form, the Internet of Things (IoT) represents a considerable threat to consumers due to inadequate regulations regarding security and privacy, say experts interviewed by the Cyber Security Research Institute for a new report sponsored by F-Secure (www.f-secure.com). Swift action is recommended to” avoid a predictable descent into a dystopian future,” according to the study.

With the number of connected devices now likely exceeding the human population of Earth, the IoT is already nearly inescapable. Millions of connected devices have already been compromised to be used a part of the Mirai botnet. Many consumers aren’t aware of inherent risks of their connected devices and that manufacturers often rush products to market without considering basic security requirements and settings.

“This situation could create an even more frightening scenario than the UK tabloid newspapers' ‘phone hacking’...

Robotic technology is quietly transforming the world of agriculture and will grow to become a $45 billon industry by 2028, according to the IDTechEx (www.IDTechEx.com) research group.

Tractor guidance and autosteer are well-established technologies. In the short to medium terms, both will continue their growth thanks to improvements and cost reductions in RTK GPS technology. IDTechEx estimates that around 700,000 tractors equipped with autosteer or tractor guidance will be sold in 2028.

Unmanned autonomous tractors have also been technologically demonstrated with large-scale market introduction largely delayed — not by technical issues but by regulation, high sensor costs and the lack of farmers' trust. This will start to slowly change from 2024 onwards, though the sales will only slowly grow. IDTechEx estimates that around 40,000 unmanned fully-autonomous (level 5) tractors will be sold in 2038. The take...

According to a new report published by Allied Market Research (www.alliedmarketresearch.com), the global patient centric healthcare app market was valued at $10,235.0 million in 2016, and is projected to reach $113,728.0 million by 2023, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 40.9% from 2017 to 2023.

The phone based app segment accounted for about half of the global market share in 2016. Patient centric is an approach by which a healthcare system can establish a partnership among practitioners, patients, and their families to align decisions about patient's health, needs, and preferences toward medicine and treatment. The patient centric healthcare apps are smartphone, web-based, and wearable applications that aid users by updating them about medication times, dehydration level in the body, calories consumed and heart beats per minute among other body parameters.

Last year was a banner year for cyber crime; more data was stolen in the first six months of 2017 than in the entirety of 2016. Gemalto’s Breach Level Index found that over 900 data breaches occurred during the first half of 2017, compromising 1.9 billion records.

According to Jing Xie, senior threat intelligence analyst for Venafi (www.venafi.com), a cyber security company, this explosive development in data exfiltration will continue in 2018. In an even more ominous trend, the number of sophisticated state sponsored cyber attacks increased significantly last year.

“In 2017, attackers working for nation-states focused on efficiency and return on investment, and they were very successful,” said Xie. “As a result, we should expect to see escalations and variations of similar attack vectors this year.”
Xie examined the condition of nation-state sponsored cyber warfare and offered these predictions and...

IDC (www.idc.com) forecasts that worldwide spending on robotics and drones solutions will total $103.1 billion in 2018, an increase of 22.1% over 2017. By 2021, IDC expects this spending will more than double to $218.4 billion with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) or 25.4%.

Robotics spending will reach $94 billion in 2018 and will account for more than 90% of all spending throughout the 2017-2021 forecast, according to the research group. Industrial robotic solutions will account for the largest share of robotics spending (more than 70%), followed by service robots and consumer robots.

Discrete and process manufacturing will be the leading industries for robotics spending at more than $60 billion combined in 2018. The resource and healthcare industries will also make significant investments in robotics solutions this year. The retail and wholesale industries will see the fastest robotics spending growth over...

Worldwide spending on public cloud services and infrastructure is forecast to reach $160 billion in 2018, an increase of 23.2% over 2017, according to IDC.

Although annual spending growth is expected to slow somewhat over the 2016-2021 forecast period, the market is forecast to achieve a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.9% with public cloud services spending totaling $277 billion in 2021, adds the research group.

The industries that are forecast to spend the most on public cloud services in 2018 are discrete manufacturing ($19.7 billion), professional services ($18.1 billion), and banking ($16.7 billion). The process manufacturing and retail industries are also expected to spend more than $10 billion each on public cloud services in 2018. These five industries will remain at the top in 2021 due to their continued investment in public cloud solutions. The industries that will see the fastest spending growth over the five-year forecast period are...

A new report from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that the total number of cellular M2M connections will reach 1.3 billion by 2022, representing a 220% increase from an estimated 400 million in 2017.

The research group found that emerging cellular networks, including NB-IoT, LTE-M and 5G, will grow together to account for just under 10% of all cellular M2M connections by 2022. Operators are now racing to provide the underlying connectivity for the future high growth of connections, spurred on by the enabled emerging use cases.

Juniper says that smart city development will hugely benefit from LPWA (Low Power Wide Area) access technologies, forecasting that over 25% of cellular smart city devices and applications will operate over these networks by 2022. The low cost per connection of LPWA networks and a battery life of 10 years will become appealing for monitoring city...

The technology divide between older and younger generations may not be as wide as you think. According to a recent survey of 1,000 seniors issued by Senior Helpers (www.seniorhelpers.com), aprovider of in-home senior care, more than 68 percent of people ages 65+ rate their technology skills either average or above average.

The survey, which examined seniors' attitudes on everything from apps and internet usage to social media habits, also found that while most would not consider themselves "tech-savvy" (71 percent), nearly 60 percent of seniors think younger generations underestimate their knowledge and aptitude for technology.

"Technology is constantly evolving, but seniors are much more adept at using tech than many people give them credit for," said Peter Ross, CEO and co-founder, Senior Helpers. "It's become integral to so many other aspects of their lives, they are embracing it.”

According to a new forecast from IDC (www.idc.com), total spending on IT infrastructure products (server, enterprise storage, and Ethernet switches) for deployment in cloud environments is expected to total $46.5 billion in 2017 with year-over-year growth of 20.9%.

The research group says that public cloud data centers will account for the majority of this spending, 65.3%, growing at the fastest annual rate of 26.2%. Off-premises private cloud environments will represent 13% of cloud IT infrastructure spending, growing at 12.7% year over year. On-premises private clouds will account for 62.6% of spending on private cloud IT infrastructure and will grow 11.5% year over year in 2017.
Worldwide spending on traditional, non-cloud, IT infrastructure is expected to decline by 2.6% in 2017 but nevertheless will account for the majority, 57.2%, of total end user spending on IT infrastructure products across the three...

Worldwide IT spending is projected to total $3.7 trillion in 2018, an increase of 4.5% from 2017, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com).

"Global IT spending growth began to turn around in 2017, with continued growth expected over the next few years. However, uncertainty looms as organizations consider the potential impacts of Brexit, currency fluctuations, and a possible global recession," said John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner. "Despite this uncertainty, businesses will continue to invest in IT as they anticipate revenue growth, but their spending patterns will shift. Projects in digital business, blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), and progression from big data to algorithms to machine learning to artificial intelligence (AI) will continue to be main drivers of growth.”

The fourth quarter of 2017 has seen some exciting changes to a number of important segments in the fintech and payments markets. Updated Q4 research from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) predicts that the value of Bitcoin transactions will peak at $1.17 trillion next year, before collapsing to $57 billion in 2020.

The research group has revised its forecasts for Samsung Pay user adoption and transactions globally. New data from Samsung Pay confirmed South Korea and Russia leading global adoption, followed by the U.S. and India. And with Apple including QR code readers as standard on iPhones, Juniper predicts over one billion mobile devices accessing QR codes by 2022.

Worldwide semiconductor revenue is forecast to total $451 billion in 2018, an increase of 7.5% from $419 billion in 2017, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com). This represents a near doubling of the research group’s previous estimate of 4%growth for 2018.

"Favorable market conditions for memory sectors that gained momentum in the second half of 2016 prevailed through 2017 and look set to continue in 2018, providing a significant boost to semiconductor revenue," said Ben Lee, principal research analyst at Gartner. "Gartner has increased the outlook for 2018 by $23.6 billion compared with the previous forecast, of which the memory market accounts for $19.5 billion. Price increases for both DRAM and NAND flash memory are raising the outlook for the overall semiconductor market.”

However, these price increases will put pressure on margins for system vendors of key semiconductor demand drivers, including...

In his annual letter to shareholders, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos referred to Amazon Web Services (AWS) Amazon’s own SaaS (Software as a Service) offering.
Kyle Tkachuk, CEO at lead gen software as a service (SaaS) company Clickback, fully agrees with this assessment – referencing a recent demonstration of AI used in B2B marketing applications.

SaaS landing page provider, Unbounce, challenged digital marketers to compete against an AI-based technology called “The Machine” in analyzing landing page copy. The goal was to predict whether the copy would deliver an above- or below-average conversion rate.

“The Machine” won due to conducting its evaluation with a lack of biases. Conversely, the human marketers were opinionated on the effects of design and other variables. The Machine demonstrated 80% accuracy of prediction, compared to 50% by the human contestants.

“It is certain that AI [artificial intelligence] and ML [machine learning] are taking...

As new estimates predict cybercrime costs will exceed $2 trillion by 2019, many consumers are wary of letting companies handle their personal data, according to Spohn Security Solutions offers advice on how to handle and defend against such problems.

Lack of diligence in the business world has dominated headlines, leading to serious mistrust on the part of consumers. Currently, 68% of consumers don’t trust companies to handle their personal data securely and keep it protected from hackers, according to Spohn.

Companies need consumer data for invoicing and other legitimate business purposes. This means that methods must be developed for effectively securing data to prevent personal information from falling into the wrong hands. Cybercriminals quickly devise strategies to overcome older security measures, and it’s a sure bet that they’ll continue to exploit any possible vulnerabilities in new security patches, etc.

According to IDC (www.idc.com), vendor revenue from sales of infrastructure products (server, storage, and Ethernet switch) for cloud IT, including public and private cloud, grew 25.5% year over year in the third quarter of 2017 (3Q17), reaching $11.3 billion.

Public cloud infrastructure revenue grew 32.3% year over year in 3Q17 to $7.7 billion and now represents 30.2% of total worldwide IT infrastructure spending, up from 26.3% one year ago, notes the research group. Private cloud revenue reached $3.6 billion for an annual increase of 13.1%. Total worldwide cloud IT infrastructure revenue is on pace to nearly double in 2017 when compared to 2013.

Traditional (non-cloud) IT infrastructure revenue grew 8% from a year ago, although it has been generally declining over the past several years; despite the declining trend, at $14.2 billion in 3Q17 traditional IT still represents 55.6% of total worldwide IT...

A new study from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that the global number of registered mobile domestic money transfer users is expected to reach 2.5 billion this year, up from an estimated 1.7 billion in 2016.

This will be driven by social media apps such as WeChat, Facebook and others already witnessing a dramatic rise in service usage, alongside new services including Apple Pay Cash, and Zelle Pay; with leading mobile money services driving growth in emerging markets, adds the research group.

Juniper believes that 2018 will be the year for social payments with key rollouts from Apple, Google and Facebook expected to drive the much delayed social payments market, as a subsector of the wider mobile P2P market.

“It was inevitable that players such as Apple would follow in the footsteps of WeChat Pay and AliPay, and offer a universal set of payment features...

According to IDTechEx (www.IDTechEx.com), electric vehicles for construction, agriculture and mining will be a $87 billion market in 2028. Komatsu, John Deere, Caterpillar, and others manufacture the big vehicles — mainly hybrid — while other manufacturers offer smaller, pure-electric versions.

Pure electric is a legal requirement indoors. Outdoors, fuel saving and better performance attracts. Cranes and man lifters have many applications. Their production volumes are larger than most people realize. So it is with the electric versions set for over 164,000 to be sold in 2028, says IDTechEx.

The research group says this is an industry about to change radically. For example, in mining, over 90% of the world's mines are open cast. They are often in remote places up to 4,000 meters above sea level, where shipping diesel can cost more than buying it. Consequently, there is now a move to have 350...

Technology has made the process of home buying and selling simpler, smarter and faster. As smart home and virtual reality (VR) technology continues to become more mainstream and sought after, consumers are now expecting high-tech experiences before even stepping foot in a prospective listing.

A new survey from Coldwell Banker Real Estate (www.coldwellbanker.com), conducted online by Harris Poll among over 3,000 U.S. adults, suggests VR is poised to become the next big thing in real estate. Americans appear to be ready to embrace VR as a resource to visualize what is normally left to the home buyer's imagination.

In fact, the desire for VR house tours is almost on par with traditional video tours. For those considering a home purchase in the future, 84% of respondents would like to see video footage, while 77% would like the ability to be able to take VR house tours before actually visiting...

New data from IDC (www.idc.com) says global spending on 3D printing (including hardware, materials, software, and services) will be nearly $12 billion in 2018, an increase of 19.9% over 2017. By 2021, the research group expects worldwide spending to be nearly $20.0 billion with a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.5%.

Together, 3D printers and materials will account for roughly two thirds of the worldwide spending total throughout the forecast, reaching $6.9 billion and $6.7 billion respectively in 2021. Services spending will trail slightly behind, reaching $5.5 billion in 2021 and led by on-demand parts services and systems integration services. Purchases of 3DP software will grow more slowly than the overall market with a five-year CAGR of 18.6%.

Discrete manufacturing will be the dominant industry for 3D printing, delivering more than half of all worldwide spending throughout the 2017-2021...

Approximately 154 million homes in Europe and North America will be equipped with smart technology by 2021, according to M2M Research Services.

Smart homes and home automation are ambiguous terms used in reference to a wide range of solutions for controlling, monitoring and automating functions in the home. Berg Insight's definition of a smart home system requires that it has a smartphone app or a web portal as a user interface.

Devices that only can be controlled with switches, timers, sensors and remote controls are thus not included in the scope of this study. Smart home systems can be grouped into six primary categories: energy management and climate control systems; security and access control systems; lighting, window and appliance control systems; home appliances; audio-visual and entertainment systems; and healthcare and assisted living systems.

North America recorded strong growth in the smart home market during 2016. The installed base of smart home...

The document management systems market is expected to reach $6.78 billion by 2023 from $3.59 billion in 2017, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.17%, according to Report Linker (www.reportlinker.com).

Growth in this market can largely be attributed to factors such as the increasing need to streamline business operations, benefits of digitalizing content across enterprises, increasing need to adhere to compliance requirements, and increasing adoption of cloud-based services and cloud computing, according to the research group. On the other hand, high implementation costs are expected to restrict adoption, which in turn may limit market growth to a certain extent.

The document management systems market for solutions is expected to hold a larger share, mainly due to the increasing demand for solutions as they help to streamline business processes and operations, according to Report Linker...

New data from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that the development of smart grids linked to smart cities will result in citizens saving $14 billion per annum in energy bills by 2022. This is up from the $3.4 billion saving estimated for 2017, resulting from smart meter rollouts, energy-saving policies and sensing technology to improve grid reliability and efficiency.

Juniper found that the high cost of carbon capture and storage technology was making fossil fuel investment uneconomical. With the projected cost of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar falling close to $60 per MWh (Megawatt hour) in 2022, it predicted the inevitable investment would force accelerated deployment of smart grid solutions to reliably scale renewable energy.

What’s more, the research argued that the business case for distributed renewable generation would be strengthened by the...

Emotion artificial intelligence (AI) systems are becoming so sophisticated that Gartner (www.gartner.com) predicts that by 2022, personal devices will know more about an individual's emotional state than his or her own family. AI is generating multiple disruptive forces that are reshaping the way we interact with personal technologies, adds the research group.

"Emotion AI systems and affective computing are allowing everyday objects to detect, analyze, process and respond to people's emotional states and moods to provide better context and a more personalized experience," said Roberta Cozza, research director at Gartner. "To remain relevant, technology vendors must integrate AI into every aspect of their devices, or face marginalization."

The current wave of emotion AI systems is being driven by the proliferation of virtual personal assistants (VPAs) and other AI-based technology for conversational systems...

While many Pennsylvanians found a new smartphone under the tree last month, Secretary of Banking and Securities Robin L. Wiessmann urges consumers to consider several strategies to protect their new smartphones from phony apps that can steal information, take over that new device, and wreak havoc on personal networks.

Wiessmann explains that these phony mobile apps are promoted on websites or through marketing emails, which appear to be legitimate offers from famous companies. However, phony apps are designed to fool users into sharing credit card, banking, or other personal information. Some phony apps also contain viruses, malware, or ransomware, which can take over the phone and steal personal information of people stored in email address books and contact lists.

According to research firm RiskIQ, criminals using phony smartphone apps focus their efforts on imitating the leading brands in e-commerce. These brands have thousands of blacklisted apps that contain...

MusiComms, an organization “dedicated to the future of music distribution,” has announced the results of its latest industry research. The survey, which was conducted in quarter four of 2017, polled 5,000 consumers across all demographics and regions across the U.S.

How much will consumers pay for music? Will they ever pay more? How will this type of information impact music business strategy? Those are the types of questions MusiComms posed to consumers in their latest survey. Here’s what they learned:

° Most people get their music for free today. Fifty-two percent of people indicated that they don’t pay anything currently for their music. Of that number, 29% said their primary source is free AM/FM radio. That number was followed by 15% who listen to free Internet-based music services, and 7% referred to Internet video sites.

° Forty percent of consumers polled will never pay more for music. When asked what would motivate consumers to pay more, a whopping 40%...

Worldwide semiconductor revenue totaled $419.7 billion in 2017, a 22.2%increase from 2016, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com). Undersupply helped drive 64% revenue growth in the memory market, which accounted for 31% of total semiconductor revenue in 2017.

"The largest memory supplier, Samsung Electronics, gained the most market share and took the No. 1 position from Intel — the first time Intel has been toppled since 1992," said Andrew Norwood, research vice president at Gartner. "Memory accounted for more than two-thirds of all semiconductor revenue growth in 2017, and became the largest semiconductor category.”

The key driver behind the booming memory revenue was higher prices due to a supply shortage. NAND flash prices increased year-over-year for the first time ever, up 17%, while DRAM prices rose 44%. Gartner says equipment companies could not absorb these price...

A new study from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that the number of QR code coupons redeemed via mobile will reach 5.3 billion by 2022, up from an estimated 1.3 billion in 2017. The report finds that the use of QR codes to deliver coupons and discount offers will increase substantially, as in-built QR functionality on mobile devices drives usage, with Apple leading the way.

Recent changes by Apple, to include QR code reader functionality as part of the camera application on iPhone devices, has lead Juniper to revise upwards our mobile coupon forecasts. Juniper forecasts that over one billion mobile devices will access coupons through QR codes by 2022.

"Apple’s addition of QR code reading facilities directly addresses a major barrier for use in Western markets,” says research author Lauren Foye. “The lack of an in-built reader had been a hindrance, with consumers needing...

TMR (www.transparencymarketresearch.com) predicts that the global mHealth market will earn an estimated US$118.4 billion by the end of 2025 at a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 22.1% during the forecast timeframe 2017-2025.

In 2017, the market had been worth a US$23.9 billion. By product, connected medical devices had secured a dominant share in 2016. By region, North America stood at a leading position while being worth a US$45.9 billion by the final forecast year.

The wide range of mHealth applications has been anticipated to bring in scores of lucrative business prospects in the world market, according to TMR. From chronic disease management to complex population health analysis, mHealth could be highly demanded across several applications in the modern times.

In a healthcare setting, mHealth could play a vital role as healthcare payers and providers...

Digital transformation (DX) in the worldwide banking industry is characterized by the ability to use technology to break out of the constraints forced by legacy systems and processes and enable a more efficient and responsive institution.

While all banks worldwide acknowledge the importance and complexity of transforming their businesses to compete in this new digital economy, nearly 40% have not yet executed on a sustainable digital transformation strategy, according to a new survey from International Data Corporation (www.idc.com). Key findings of this study include:

° All banks worldwide acknowledge the importance and complexity of transforming their businesses to compete in the new digital economy. However, nearly 40% are still at the ad hoc or opportunistic stages of maturity, meaning that they have not yet executed on a sustainable digital transformation strategy. Fewer than 10% can claim that they are in a...

Software Updates via MacUpdate

Hopper Disassembler 4.3.16- - Binary dis...

Hopper Disassembler is a binary disassembler, decompiler, and debugger for 32- and 64-bit executables. It will let you disassemble any binary you want, and provide you all the information about its... Read more

Default Folder X 5.2.2 - Enhances Open a...

Default Folder X attaches a toolbar to the right side of the Open and Save dialogs in any OS X-native application. The toolbar gives you fast access to various folders and commands. You just click on... Read more

EtreCheck 4.0.1 - For troubleshooting yo...

EtreCheck is an app that displays the important details of your system configuration and allow you to copy that information to the Clipboard. It is meant to be used with Apple Support Communities to... Read more

Carbon Copy Cloner 5.0.9 - Easy-to-use b...

Carbon Copy Cloner backups are better than ordinary backups. Suppose the unthinkable happens while you're under deadline to finish a project: your Mac is unresponsive and all you hear is an ominous,... Read more

QuickBooks 17.2.25.638 R26 - Financial m...

QuickBooks helps you manage your business easily and efficiently. Organize your finances all in one place, track money going in and out of your business, and spot areas where you can save.
Built for... Read more

Monosnap 3.4.10 - Versatile screenshot u...

Monosnap lets you capture screenshots, share files, and record video and .gifs!
Features
Capture
Capture full screen, just part of the screen, or a selected window
Make your crop area pixel... Read more

Vivaldi 1.14.1077.50 - An advanced brows...

Vivaldi is a browser for our friends.
In 1994, two programmers started working on a web browser. Our idea was to make a really fast browser, capable of running on limited hardware, keeping in mind... Read more

Viber 8.2.0 - Send messages and make fre...

Viber lets you send free messages and make free calls to other Viber users, on any device and network, in any country!
Viber syncs your contacts, messages and call history with your mobile device, so... Read more

QuickBooks 17.2.25.638 R26 - Financial m...

QuickBooks helps you manage your business easily and efficiently. Organize your finances all in one place, track money going in and out of your business, and spot areas where you can save.
Built for... Read more

Carbon Copy Cloner 5.0.9 - Easy-to-use b...

Carbon Copy Cloner backups are better than ordinary backups. Suppose the unthinkable happens while you're under deadline to finish a project: your Mac is unresponsive and all you hear is an ominous,... Read more

Latest Forum Discussions

Our top 5 characters from casual RPG Cre...

Creature Quest definitely lives up to its name with a host of collectible creatures based on fantasy tales and world mythologies. To celebrate Creature Quest’s first birthday, we’re going to lay out what we think are the five best characters in the... | Read more »

Around the Empire: What have you missed...

Did you know that Steel Media has a whole swathe of other sites dedicated to all aspects of mobile gaming? Sure you'll get the very best iPhone news, reviews, and opinions right here at 148Apps, but we don't want you missing out on a single piece... | Read more »

All the best games on sale for iPhone an...

Oh hi there, and welcome to our round-up of the best games that are currently on sale for iPhone and iPad. You thought I didn't see you there, did you, skulking behind the bushes? Trust me though, the bushes aren't where the best deals are. The... | Read more »

The Battle of Polytopia Guide - How to H...

A new update just released for The Battle of Polytopia (formerly Super Tribes), which introduces online multiplayer. For all the fans of Midjiwan’s lite take on Civilization, this is certainly welcome news, but playing online isn’t as easy and... | Read more »

Here are the very best mobile games to p...

It's Valentine's Day! Did you get loads of cards and chocolates and other tacky, simple expressions of human affection? Did you send out tat because you find it almost impossible to express emotion unless there's a section dedicated to it at your... | Read more »

A laid-back mix of RPG and TCG, Creature Quest is all about building your deck, evolving your creatures and winning in battle. It’s the creation of VC Mobile, set up by Might and Magic producer Jon Van Caneghem. There are elements of that classic... | Read more »

Check out this awesome hands-on with the...

Well, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds has come out on mobile. This isn't a clone, this isn't a riff on the battleroyale mechanics of the game, it's the official mobile port by Tencent. But there's a little bit of a hitch.
[Read more]
| Read more »

Hostage Negotiator (Entertainment)

Hostage Negotiator 1.1.0
Device: iOS Universal
Category: Entertainment
Price: $3.99, Version: 1.1.0 (iTunes)
Description:
Official app of the board game by AJ Porfirio and Van Ryder Games.
In Hostage Negotiator, you play the part of... | Read more »

Price Scanner via MacPrices.net

Saturday Sale: Amazon offers 13″ 1.8GHz/256GB...

Amazon has the 13″ 1.8GHz/256B Apple MacBook Air on sale today for $250 off MSRP including free shipping:
– 13″ 1.8GHz/256GB MacBook Air (MQD42LL/A): $949.99, $250 off MSRP
Their price is the lowest... Read more

Roundup of Apple Certified Refurbished 12″ Ma...

Apple has Certified Refurbished 2017 12″ Retina MacBooks available for $200-$240 off the cost of new models. Apple will include a standard one-year warranty with each MacBook, and shipping is free.... Read more

Apple offers Certified Refurbished 10″ and 12...

Apple is now offering Certified Refurbished 2017 10″ and 12″ iPad Pros for $100-$190 off MSRP, depending on the model. An Apple one-year warranty is included with each model, and shipping is free:
–... Read more

Apple Canada offers Certified Refurbished Mac...

Canadian shoppers can save up to $560 on the purchase of a 2017 current-generation MacBook Pro, MacBook, or MacBook Air with Certified Refurbished models at Apple Canada. Apple’s refurbished prices... Read more

Adorama has the 8-core iMac Pro on sale for $4799 including free shipping plus NY & NJ sales tax only. Their price is $200 off MSRP, and it’s the currently lowest price available for an iMac Pro.
Read more

Sale! Walmart lowers prices even more on 9″ i...

Walmart has lowered their sale price on 9.7″ Apple iPads to $80 off MSRP for a limited time. Sale prices are for online orders only, in-store prices may vary:
– 9″ 32GB iPad: $249.99 $80 off
– 9″... Read more

Roundup of 13″ MacBook Pro sales, models avai...

B&H Photo has 13″ MacBook Pros on sale for up to $200 off MSRP. Shipping is free, and B&H charges sales tax for NY & NJ residents only. Their prices are the lowest available for these... Read more

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